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Chung can be a top-10 player, says beaten Djokovic

Novak Djokovic believes his Australian Open conqueror Hyeon Chung has the quality to become a top-10 player after stunning the former world number one in Melbourne.

NextGen champion Chung beat an ailing Djokovic, who continues to struggle with a long-standing elbow injury, 7-6 (7-4) 7-5 7-6 (7-3) to book a quarter-final spot against another surprise package, Tennys Sandgren.

The South Korean referred to the six-time Australian Open champion as his "idol" after the match, and his style of play was evidently similar to Djokovic's as he secured a surprise win - something that did not escape the 30-year-old's attention.

"We do play very similar," Djokovic said. "He definitely has the game to be a top-10 player, without a doubt. How far he can go, that depends on him.

"Obviously I respect him a lot because he's a hard worker, he's disciplined, he's a nice guy, he's quiet. You can see that he cares about his career and his performances.

"So I'm sure that he's going to get some really good results in the future."